computer science

Storyspace

Storyspace is a computer science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Storyspace rather than just read about it. In short: Storyspace is a software program for creating, editing, and reading hypertext fiction. It can also be used for writing and organizing fiction and non-fiction intended for print.

Key takeaways

Storyspace belongs to computer science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Storyspace to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Storyspace from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Storyspace is a software program for creating, editing, and reading hypertext fiction. It can also be used for writing and organizing fiction and non-fiction intended for print. Maintained and distributed by Eastgate Systems, the software is available both for Windows and Mac.

History Storyspace was the first software program specifically developed for creating, editing, and reading hypertext fiction. It was created in the 1980s by Jay David Bolter, UNC Computer Science Professor John B. Smith, and Michael Joyce. Bolter and Joyce presented it to the first international meeting on Hypertext at Chapel Hill in October 1987. After a failed attempt to license the software to Broderbund, they licensed it to Eastgate Systems in December 1990. Mark Bernstein, chief scientist at Eastgate, has maintained and developed the Storyspace program ever since.

Artistic and educational use Several classics of hypertext literature were created using Storyspace, such as Afternoon, a story by Michael Joyce, Victory Garden by Stuart Moulthrop, Patchwork Girl by Shelley Jackson, and Figurski at Findhorn on Acid by Richard Holeton. Storyspace has also been used extensively in secondary and tertiary education for teaching writing skills and critical thinking. It has been used for teaching creative writing in particular, and was especially popular in the early years of the web, when hypertext linking was less fluid and web pages had to be hand-coded in HTML. Proponents argue that Storyspace's visual maps of how hypertext nodes are connected allow students to focus on writing in hypertext rather than on technical issues, and that linking and/or visually juxtaposing ideas allows students to develop a visual logic.

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Storyspace

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Storyspace claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In computer science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Storyspace before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Storyspace ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Storyspace

In research: Storyspace appears in computer science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Storyspace in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Storyspace is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Editing software, Educational software, Electronic literature software, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Storyspace outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Storyspace in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Storyspace means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Storyspace out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Storyspace in simple terms?

Storyspace is a software program for creating, editing, and reading hypertext fiction. It can also be used for writing and organizing fiction and non-fiction intended for print.

Why does Storyspace matter?

Because it connects several computer science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Storyspace?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Storyspace.